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Liberty and property in Old Media and New
I refuse to be tarred with the accusation of coddling bloggers. So before I say what I have come to say, let me first say this: I love my unalienable rights. Life. That’s a good one. Liberty. Can’t be beat. The pursuit of happiness. Hey, that’s the right to pretty much everything! But let’s get back to original intent: Jefferson just stuck the happiness bit in there as a politically correct code for Locke’s real deal: property. Didn’t he? And I love my property. In particular, as a writer, I love my intellectual property.
Read More »The Breakup
Urban life lessons with LeBron
It still means something to be from a place. Loyalty matters. Roots are still important in these days of highly mobile communications and capital. Betrayal, even if it’s only the perception of betrayal, still stings like a son of a bitch.
That’s one lesson to take from LeBron James, the erstwhile Cleveland Cavaliers basketball star who earlier this month announced, on a self-aggrandizing hourlong ESPN broadcast, that he was departing for the Miami Heat to join friends and fellow free agents Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade in forming a virtual all-star squad for the next half-decade.
Read More »Look No Further
The best superintendent for Clark County schools may be right under our noses
Fifty thousand dollars. That’s what the Clark County School District is paying a Nebraska consulting firm to find a new superintendent. And the focus is national, so, come fall, we’re bound to wind up with a pool of outsiders who—and the firm seems confident about this—will not have any embarrassing legal or financial problems.
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We Don’t Need New, We Need Next
What some of the world’s oldest cities can teach one of its youngest
When you’re in a city famous for its simulacra of other cities, it’s reassuring when you actually check in on some of those other cities. The Luxor may be able to beam a light into outer space, but the pyramids—you know, the real ones—have been standing for more than 4,000 years.
It might have been the sheer newness of Las Vegas that recently drove me to visit Athens, Cairo and Istanbul—three of the longest-running shows on earth. And the cities did not disappoint, with their intoxicating blends of people, culture and history.
Read More »The Winning Hand is Not to the Swift …
The author of Ecclesiastes would have understood the World Series of Poker
You’ve got to feel bad for Brian Meinders. Earlier this month, in Event 23 at the World Series of Poker (six-handed limit hold’em, $2,500 buy-in), he did the right thing and still lost. If we’re muted in our sympathies, maybe it’s because the same thing happens to us so often.
Read More »Sing, Sing, Sing
Lessons my dad, legendary bandleader and Vegas staple Louis Prima, taught me
I was born on Father’s Day in 1965, the last child and only son of the multi-talented singer, songwriter, trumpet player, bandleader and legendary voice, Louis Prima.
Read More »If You Can’t Stand the Heat …
It may be because of the way Las Vegas was designed and built We desert rats living in the Mojave have a patented response to visitors’ questions regarding our summers: “Yeah, but it’s dry heat—and everything’s air-conditioned!” If we lived in a more sustainable place we wouldn’t be relegated to the indoors 24/7 for most of June, July, August and two-thirds of September. Read More »
School’s Out
Out of sight, out of mind and, next year, out of money If you have kids, you know that June 2 was one of the most-anticipated days of the year. Besides Christmas, there is no day that looms as large on the calendar, or that holds as much promise for a marked improvement in the quality of life. It was big—end-of-the-school-year big. Read More »
Vegas vs. Dallas
It’s a fight we can’t afford, but can’t afford to lose Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has made it clear: He’s targeting Las Vegas with his new $1.2 billion stadium. What else can you read into the news that the man who built the Cowboys into one of the nation’s most lucrative sports franchises wants to host a November championship boxing bout between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao? Read More »
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